Moving on
by Lleu
Summary: Colin struggles to return to normal life after the events of Twilight Princess. Pseudo-Thanskgiving oneshot.


He was foolish to think he could go back.

For the first time in nearly a year, Colin woke up in his own bed. It was the smell that woke him, the fresh bacon, sizzling and greasy. It waited for him at the dining table, beside the biggest pile of scrambled eggs he'd ever seen.

"Good morning, Colin," his mom said, beaming. "I'm so happy I can cook for the two of you again!"

He tried to be happy. He was home, after all, with his family, and all his friends. He had everything he'd ever wanted.

His mind was still in Kakariko. He couldn't unsee the shadowy beings of twilight. He couldn't unsmell the decaying body of the shopkeeper as they buried her. After trying to hard to hold on together with everyone else, how could he just go back to playing all day and letting his mom cook food?

Talo dropped by after breakfast, Beth grinning behind him. "Hey Colin, Link gave us his slingshot before he took off. Wanna go practice?"

Colin shook his head. "No thanks, Talo. I think I'd like to be alone a bit today.

"Suit yourself," Talo said with a shrug. He ran off. Beth looked up at Colin, opened her mouth to say something, then turned and followed.

He went back inside. "Hey mom, I can look after Malin a bit if you need to rest. I was thinking about showing her the forest spring."

Uli smiled. "Oh, you've grown so much. Thank you!" She helped load him up with his new sister's bottle, a change of diapers, and a handful of toys, and then he was off into the woods.

He carried her in his arms, the cradle loaded up and hanging around his shoulder just in case. "I wonder what kind of person you're going to be, Malin," he said as he walked. "Mom taught me to take care of people. Dad tried to teach me to be strong, but it was really Link who showed me what it meant."

He kept walking for a bit, thinking. "But it's not just them. Ilia taught me all about caring for horses. Mayor Bo and Renaldo taught me how to think about everyone's interests. Even Malo taught me a bit about money. Who'd've guessed, right?"

He looked down. Malin was drooling on his sleeve. He wiped it off with her cloth. "But I guess babies don't have to worry about that yet, huh? Well, just between you and me, we sure are lucky to live in such a nice village."

When he got to the forest spring, he laid Malin down in her cradle. He took off his shoes and let his feet soak in the pure water. This was where it all started. This was where he had left his home for good.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when his father came and sat down beside him. Rusl looked tired. The lines on his face seemed deeper.

"Link tells me you've done some growing up," he said.

"Yeah." Colin hugged his legs and rested his chin on his knee. "I just wish it didn't have to hurt so much."

"I'm sorry it had to to be that way, Colin," Rusl said. He picked Malin out of her cradle and held her in the crook of his arm. The baby giggled, and grabbed at his teasing finger. "I guess we just have to make sure it goes better for Malin."

"How do you deal with it?" Colin asked. "All that's happened, and you just… everyone just keeps going." He bowed his head. "I know I've gotta keep going to, but sometimes I just see the Bublin's in my head, and..." He pounded the ground with his fist.

Rusl took his time placing Malin back into the cradle. "I haven't shown this to anyone," he said. "Not even your mother. But maybe it would be good for you to see it." He unbuckled a leather container hung from his belt and pulled out a small book.

"What is it?" Colin asked. He held it in his fingertips and eyed the plain cover.

"Have a look."

He opened to the first page to see a drawing in solid black ink. The lines were few, suggesting only an outline, but in the space between them he clearly saw a menacing, headless Stalfos.

He turned the page. The aftermath of a battle. The bodies of Hylians and monsters lay together on a barren wasteland. This drawing held more details, but it was in the same bold, minimal style as the first.

"When things build up in my head too much, I put them here," he explained. "I'd hoped I was done with drawing in it, but… Well, it's fortunate it still has a couple pages left, that's all."

Colin closed the book and frowned. "Drawing, huh? I was never any good at art."

"Doesn't have to be drawing," Rusl. "But it helps to have _something_. I bet Link found his own way to get it out of his head."

Colin shrugged and rubbed at his chin. "I dunno… but I guess it's worth a shot." He smiled. "Thanks, dad. I'm glad we can talk to each other. You know, about things. Like this."

"I'm happy too, son." Rusl stood with a grunt. "Don't stay out too late. Mom'll get worried."

He lingered a bit longer, let Malin take a sip from the spring, and carried her back. Her hair was getting fuller, the same bright blonde as their mom.

After another hearty meal with his parents, he went to his room and pulled out some parchment and ink. He let it sit on his desk for a while, staring at it. There was nothing he could think to draw. Nothing he knew how to draw, besides maybe a rectangle.

But maybe it could be something else, like dad said. Suddenly, an idea struck. He sat down, took up the quill, and began.

"_Tell me, do you ever feel a lingering sadness as dusk falls?"_

_My dad asked me this once. I didn't know what he was talking about. But then I got kidnapped, and I saw a lot of things. A lot of bad things happened. For a while I thought maybe one of my friends was dead. But now it's all over, I think maybe I understand some of the things my dad was saying. _

_It all started when Link had to deliver a sword to the castle..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** This started out as a Thanksgiving oneshot, and then it turned into this. I started thinking about the importance of writing in my own life. Fanfiction is a beautiful thing. How many millions of words have people written, all for the pure love of it? This year, I'm thankful for all of you. All of you writers, whether you're writing to deal with stuff like me and Colin, or you're practicing to make it big one day, or you think canon sucks and you want to do better, or maybe you're just having a fun romp with your favorite characters. And all the readers too! I don't there'd be this much fic out there without all the people wanting to read it and comment. I'm a little amazed each time I come to the site and see how many new stories people have come up with since the last time. Thanks to everyone in the community, because this hobby wouldn't be as fun as it is without all of you!


End file.
